Capital Area Food Bank prioritizes healthy food options

FOOD INSECURITY | Recipients of the Capital Area Food Bank, one of the largest food banks in the US, asked the organization to provide food options with less salt and sugar. It listened and has been able to reduce the junk food it supplies by 84%. (WAMU, 9/18)

A leader in the movement toward nourishing food assistance, CAFB hasn’t just cut back on sugary snacks and drinks in the last year. Since 2015, it’s also boosted the amount of protein it offers — including 544,000 more pounds of beans and other vegetarian protein. That’s an increase of 57 percent.

“I used to get a bin of candy from the CAFB. Since they made this decision, I haven’t been getting that anymore,” says Jasmine Ramsay of the Pennsylvania Avenue Seventh Day Adventist Church, one of the food bank’s partners. “The CAFB has made me realize how important it is to give not just bags of food, but nutritious food.”